very congeal yal but nancy pelosi saying we have to have cuts. >> about as good as you can expect at an hour or two. >> especially talking about the possibility of getting this done, not at the very last minute but with some room to spare. i don't know what getting it done but it means having all of the elements of a deal completed or whether it means a mechanism or getting it done in the early part of next year but i think every sign that we just got out of the meeting was positive. >> let's bring in senator kent conrad of north dakota. had a busy day already. thank you for being with us. >> you bet. >> i'm sure you were able to hear senator reid say we won't wait until the last day of december, working through the thanksgiving recess. do you agree with john that this was a good first step? >> extremely positive. i'm even more encouraged. you know, i felt all along there's a good chance to arrive at a framework agreement in this lame duck session, lay out the size of the package, how it would be distributed to how much to cut in spending and raise in revenue. lay all that out before